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Hard work pays off for local player

This article was originally published in our February 20th, 2012 Newsletter.

Ever since changing the format of the newsletter, I have been wanting
to start writing articles that I think will be of value to the readers
of this newsletter and their children who play baseball or softball. I
have known RJ Vukovich since he was about 10 years old and I have
watched him develop into an outstanding college player.

RJ is the son of a good friend of mine who I have played adult baseball
with for the past 12 years. My first memory of RJ is from back in 1999
when he would come to many of our games and take ground balls and
sometimes batting practice with us before the team took infield. He did
not stand out to me as an outstanding baseball player although he was a
good athlete and he was always working hard. I can't say that there
was anything special though. In hindsight, I was seeing what was special about RJ and I didn't even know it.

RJ has a passion for the game and he has worked himself into the
position of starting shortstop at Walsh University as a Junior. For
those of you who are not impressed yet, take a look at his stats below.
He entered his senior year of high school at 5' 9", 140lbs and he led
the team in home runs and batted .310.

Since then, he graduated from North Canton Hoover and
went to a a couple of different schools until he found his home at
Walsh University where he started 42 of 48 games at 2B last year. He
will be the starting shortstop this year as a Junior and he is up to a
whopping 5'9" 160 lbs. You can see below the summary of his workout
regimen and philosophy. The entire purpose of this article is to point
out that there is only one thing that separates successful players with unsuccessful players.....hard work.
It's hard to say where he would be playing if he was blessed with a
6'3", 225lb frame, but it doesn't matter. He is following his passion
and he is privileged to play the game at a high level and he has EARNED IT!
I want to congratulate RJ for what he has worked to hard to accomplish
and I want to encourage other 10 year old players that no matter their
size or God given ability, the one thing that will always set them apart
is their work ethic and attitude. Please read the information below
and share it with an athlete that you know (in any sport). Most kids
won't do anything with the information but I feel that it is my job to
provide them with the information that can make a difference for them.

Player Profile - RJ Vukovich

High School - North Canton Hoover
5'9 140lbs (going into senior year)
Played 2B Junior year and SS senior year
Led the team in HRs senior year and batted .310 (batted mostly 5th but occasionally 4th)

West Liberty State University:
Started 6 of 8 games

Fairmont State University:
Start 2 of 4 games - ended with a medical red-shirt

Walsh:
5'9 160lbs
Started 42 of 48 games at 2B (2 games at 3rd) last year/sophomore year
Starting SS this year (junior year)

Attaining ones dream in baseball is not complicated, it's just
difficult. I have known dozens of high school players who were more
physically gifted than RJ who were out of baseball by their freshman
year of college (including myself, if you are wondering why I am writing
this article) because they weren't willing to pay the price or were too
stupid to know that their career can end quickly. I hope this article
will encourage at least one player to understand that if they keep outworking others, their dream is attainable.

Update 9/26/2013

RJ is now playing professionally in Europe. After a season in which he was the starting shortstop for the Olimpija Karlovac Baseball Club, Karlovac Croatia, he will be returning for his second season in 2014.

In the meantime, he will be introducing a new coaching concept at Play Ball Sports Academy called "open workout coach". The concept is that RJ will be at the academy during specified times when players can come in for a workout. It would not be an organized workout or practice. The idea is that RJ will help the player develop his or her own individual workout routine and be available if the player has questions. RJ would also be an "accountability coach" for these players and provide them with coaching on fundamentals, footwork, hitting or anything else the player wants help with. RJ will be developing this program and there will be more information to come. RJ will also be available for traditional hitting lessons and defensive lessons.